The restaurant
by Captainfredrickwentworth
Summary: AU. Rose Tyler works at a cafe in London and owns an apartment in a nice neighborhood. One day she goes to work for Donna Noble who, it turns out, comes from a filthy rich family called the Smiths and runs her own restaurant. She lives with her adopted siblings Sarah-Jane Smith and John Smith. Rose and John are automatically attracted to each other but what is she hiding?
1. Meeting John

**Alright here's my first proper try at an AU. Everyone is human and everything is normal :P Hope you enjoy it. **

**The usual disclaimer: I don't own anything, I love it and I wish I did but no :(**

Donna raced around the house nearly bowling John over in the process. "What's got you all riled up?" he asked rubbed his shoulder where she had practically barged him.

"I've got an interview with a potential new employee and I have lost her file" she began digging through the overflowing breakfast bar.

"So someone else wants to work at the restaurant" John nodded approvingly "They must have very good taste".

"John just help me find it and stop teasing me!" she yelled at him and he sat down his mug "My restaurant is currently at two stars and this girl might just be what I need, she's happy to clean or wash up. The others aren't happy to do it but if I can get her then it'll make things a whole lot easier".

"My dear sister I was not teasing you" he held up his hands "Your restaurant is very successful and I am very proud of you for it".

"That makes one of my siblings" Donna sighed.

"Sarah Jane is more difficult to please; she's a scientist and believes there's nothing more important. Of course I share her opinion on science but I do know that you are most happy running a restaurant then you'd ever be if you went into science" he started to dig through a stack of files flipping each one open to check what was inside.

"Thanks Spaceman" she grinned at him and he winked at her before she went back to her frenzy.

"Here" he held up a file "Rose Tyler, Blonde, hazel eyes, nice lips".

"John!" Donna exclaimed "You keep your hands off my employees, remember what happened last time with Reinette or must I remind you?"

"Ok, ok but there's nothing wrong with me saying she's pretty, which she is very pretty in fact" he nodded at the picture and Donna snatched it out of his hands.

"And you Spaceman are a skinny stick of pervert now get to work" she slapping him on the arm with the back of her hand.

"Right you are" he pulled on his long brown coat and headed over to where his own notes had nearly been buried in Donna's attack.

John wandered aimlessly down the street on his way to work, he was usually very excited for work but today he felt kind of down. They had terminated his favourite project that morning, he didn't want to be there to see project Gallifrey go up in flames, literally it was to be incinerated. It didn't even get put in storage and that made him very angry, all that work for nothing.

He was lost in his thoughts when he bumped into someone knocking their tea out of their hands where the takeaway cup exploded on the ground. He heard the woman curse and bent down to pick up the cup "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry" he babbled "I'm really not myself today" he looked up at the face of the stranger and a large grin spread across his face.

There in front of him, shirt all wet with tea was a certain Rose Tyler. It was definitely her, how could he forget those eyes or those lips.

"S'alright" she smiled and produced some tissues to clean up the front of her shirt. Noticing that he had also been hit she offered him one but he let her use them.

"I really am sorry" he was suddenly very paranoid of what this woman thought of him.

"I know" she patted his shoulder "It's ok I'm fine really, I just have to go home and change".

"Can I walk you home?" he knew this might be pushing it a little too far but he decided to go for it.

"Uh yeah, yeah ok" she grinned at him "I'm Rose by the way".

"John" he nodded and held out his hand for her to shake. Her hands were warm and fitted perfectly with his. She seemed to notice and withdrew very quickly.

"So John" they began to walk down the street "Do you make a habit of knocking girls drinks out of their hands or am I just special" she teased.

"I uh no sorry, I don't know how many times I've apologized now but I'm not gonna stop. I'm usually not so...distracted, my work terminated a project today, I was dedicated to it and I don't know if I even want to go there today" he was serious but he knew she was teasing.

"Well I'm sorry" she said sincerely "I dunno what I'd do if my job got terminated. He looked at her confused for a moment and she continued "I work at the café down the road".

"Oh Duncan's" he grinned "Love that place".

"Yeah well I work there so come in sometime and I'll serve you the best coffee you've ever tasted" she smiled a bit more flirtatiously than she planned but he didn't mind, he liked that look especially when it was directed at him.

"But you aren't working today?" he questioned "It doesn't really looked like you're dressed for café work".

"Ah no not today, I was at an interview for a job" she sighed "Two jobs are better than one".

"So did you get it? The job?" he asked keenly.

"Yeah the lady really liked me" she smiled "The place is very nice, bit more posh then what I'm used to but hey the more posh it is the more chance of me actually getting a good position".

"Well Congratulations" he grinned and she grinned back at him.

"Yeah well I don't think I could find a better job really the pay's good, the boss is nice and so are all the staff, she even invited me to a party his weekend on the family's estate" she put emphasis on the word estate.

"So your new boss is wealthy" he smiled knowingly.

"Apparently so" she nodded "Obviously that changes nothing, money doesn't entice me and from what she told me there won't be any blokes at the party".

John raised his eyebrows "Does she have a brother or sister?"

"Yeah one of each, she says her sister's uptight about her running a restaurant and her brother...well she said she loves him but he's attractive and he knows it. Goes through women like toilet paper I believe her words were".

John stared at her with his mouth open "She said those things about her own brother?" he couldn't help but be a bit hurt.

"Yeah, then she went on to say that he's really sweet and that she may as well introduce me considering I'm probably gonna see him at the restaurant anyway..." she trailed off "I'm sorry I don't know why I'm spurting all this out to a complete stranger".

"It's ok I find it quite entertaining" he grinned and slowly released a relieved sigh "So you have seem to have learnt a lot more then you bargained for. New boss, straight away you know that she's from a wealthy family, has an uptight or rather studious sister and a very attractive and charming brother".

"Who goes through women like toilet paper" Rose added on and John hid his discomfort 'Later' he thought to himself 'Donna is going to get it later'.

"Well just don't judge a book by its cover" he smiled and waggled his finger at her "I'm sure he will turn out to be a very nice young man with perfect hair and the friendliest disposition of anyone you meet at the party".

Rose rolled her eyes and nudged him with her elbow before she could stop herself "I'm sorry" she stopped and backed away from him slightly "I just felt like I was walking with my brother" she said awkwardly "We often tease each other".

"Way to give a man a compliment" he chuckled then pretended to look upset.

"Oh come on" she smacked him on the arm "I know I don't know you but so far you are nothing like my brother".

"Oh really?" he asked puzzled "I must feel sorry for your brother then".

"You are the worst" she smacked him again and stood there with her mouth hanging open "First you spill tea on me and then offer to walk me home which for some reason I accepted, must have had something to do with your hair" she looked at it with great admiration "Then you insult my brother claiming that you are an attractive man and he is the opposite".

"I never said anything about looks" he grinned cheekily down at her "You just brought that into it because you think I'm handsome" he continued to tease "Thanks for the compliment about my hair though" he ran a hand through his hair and ruffled it slightly.

Rose was speechless and just gawped at the man "I do not think you're handsome" she tried to deny it but blush sneaked up her cheeks until she looked about the same colour as a beetroot, a blonde beetroot.

"Your face tells me otherwise" he laughed.

"Very confident aren't you?" she raised her eyebrow at him.

"Not really actually" he said honestly "There are only three things I'm confident about".

"Oh really?" she smiled "And what are they?"

"Well obviously there's the fact that my hair is amazing" he grinned and she just shook her head "Then there's the fact that I'm a genius" yet again she shook her head "And finally there's the fact I will see you again after today".

"What makes you so sure?" she laughed.

"Weeeeellllll I dunno really I know where you work and I'm soon to know where you live so I'm bound to see you at some point".

"On your stalker rounds of my house?" she joked only to see him looking at her very seriously.

He saw her face fall and he burst out laughing "You..." he couldn't stop laughing "You really think I'm gonna stalk you?"

"Well you never know" Rose calmed down a bit.

"I was kidding Rose" he actually was serious that time "I am not a stalker and even if I was I would only stalk people to annoy them and I don't want to annoy you".

"That's good to hear" she turned abruptly and walked up her driveway with him tagging along behind "Anyway this is me. It was...nice to meet you John".

"Likewise Rose" he winked and took a few steps backwards "I'll see you around".

"I'm sure you will" she turned her key and let herself in to her apartment. She hadn't had the place long and her mother had insisted that she continue to live with her, but Rose and wormed her way out of it when the property came on a great sale which she simple couldn't pass up.

The whole house was still quite bare yet but there were some personal items around that showed it was lived in. Rose flopped down on the lounge and breathed deeply the day went well, not only had she scored a second job but she'd met a really handsome guy and he was nice, not cruel like Jimmy or clingy like Mickey had been. John, John who? She hadn't even asked his surname though he'd never asked for hers either.

That night she snuggled up and watched some very soppy chick flicks and fell asleep halfway through her fourth one with a half-finished block of chocolate and a packet of chips spilt on the floor. In her dreams she was a beautiful, rich, successful twenty-something year old and John was her incredibly handsome neighbour. When she woke to the next morning she wondered if it was possible that John was having the same sort of dreams about her but she quickly brushed off the thought. Why would someone like him want her and why was she even thinking about him like that in the first place? She hardly even knew the guy for crying out loud.

**Ok so how'd I go on my first try? Make sure you tell me if I sucked :P Thanks for your reviews and support on all my stories I can't believe how popular some of them are getting with you lot especially Return of the Wolf. I'm still most proud of Human Nature with a twist and I'd just like to say that if it wasn't for your reviews on it I might not still be writing some of my more trying stories. So thank you your reviews always put a smile on my face :)**


	2. It demands respect

**Hello, thanks for the great response on the first Chapter! This story is roughly planned out...well in my head so unlike my other stories it will try and follow some sort of direction :P Tell me what you think of the Chapter and thanks again for your reviews, follows and favourites :)**

The next few days flew by without anything extraordinary happening, Rose saw John a couple of times but only from a distance and both time he never saw her or he was busy having a serious discussion or argument with another person.

The party at the estate was the next day and Rose was keen to get herself a brand new dress for it. She had already worked a couple of nights at the restaurant, the work was easy and Donna was the best boss she could have wished for, in fact Donna had offered to come shopping with her to get her new dress but Rose had refused. She liked shopping with friends but she felt like she'd make more progress if she didn't have someone with her.

After she'd spent a few hours shopping she started to head back towards her apartment to get ready for work at the restaurant. As she passed Duncan's she caught sight of John arguing with a blonde woman, she he caught his eye and he grinned at her. She blushed a little and let herself be pulled off in the crowd towards her home.

John thought of following her but he soon decided not to, she'd see him soon enough even if she didn't know it yet. Donna had warned him to steer clear of her at the party and he hadn't mentioned that they had already met.

Rose showered quickly and got into her black t shirt and pants for work, Donna had told her to be there by six so that they could chat before work. She opened the door to the restaurant and so greeted immediately by Donna's welcoming hug.

"Hey Rose! Glad you came in early" she grinned at her "Now just a couple of things before the party tomorrow" she paused "I know I already warned you about my brother John but there's more"-

"Your brother's name is John?" she asked suddenly wondering if it was her John, wait her John? Where did that come from?

"Yeah John Smith, tall, skinny, brown hair, why? Have you already met him?"

"No I don't think so though, I have met a John recently but I doubt it was him" she was actually hopeful after what she had said about his family, not that he'd take offence to it but she didn't want him to think she was being rude.

"I see" Donna wasn't entirely convinced but she held her tongue, if this girl had met him and wasn't raving about his looks or intelligence then there was a good chance that she was quality and not just one the girls who had tried to get with him for his money.

Rose was washing up later when the phone rang and Donna had to excuse herself and went out into the hall to answer it. "Hello Donna Noble speaking...Oh hey John" her eyes flickered to Rose for a moment.

"Hey Donna I was wondering if I could come by tonight if you're not too busy, you're probably finished now anyway aren't you?" John asked excitedly.

Donna thought about it for a moment "Nah don't worry about it tonight spaceman, I'll be coming out to the estate tonight anyway so I may as well meet you there".

"Alright then, oh and just so you know, Jack is coming with me, he insisted".

"Oh ok then" Donna's heart fluttered at the thought of Jack Harkness being there but she soon became worried that Rose would become his latest prey.

"See you later Earthgirl, love you".

"Love you too spaceman" Donna hung up the phone and rolled her eyes at Rose.

"What's up?" Rose finished squirting the last object with the high-pressure nozzle and placing it in the crate to go into the dishwasher.

"Oh my brother just called to tell me that Jack Harkness will be at the party tomorrow".

"And that's a problem because?"

"He's a total flirt and I told you there weren't gonna be any guys apart from my brother" she looked at her apologetically.

"It's alright, it's been a while since Jimmy, I can...I can trust a guy again you know, I think it was just bad luck that I picked a bad one the first time" she smiled awkwardly. She really wasn't sure what possessed her to talk about her abusive ex Jimmy Stone but she was glad she had. Donna was so nice and understanding.

"Well I just hope he doesn't decide to go for you" she sighed "Sure he's one of the most attractive men you'll ever see but just like my brother she goes through chicks like toilet paper".

Rose laughed "I'll be sure to be careful".

"You can go now Rose" Donna went over to the desk to fetch her pay "You've worked way longer then you should have and you have to get up early to come to my stupid party so thank you".

"Oh it's no problem but can I just ask what the party is for?"

"Well my brother's been a little down recently after his project at work was terminated" she smiled sadly "He was so devoted to that project and everyone is heartbroken for him".

Rose froze, that did sound a lot like the John she met only a few days previous "Well I'll be sure to pass on my condolences" she smiled before grabbing her coat and walking towards the door "I'll see you tomorrow Donna, thanks for everything".

"Here your pay!" Donna called after her and forced the money into her hands.

"Donna that's too much!" Rose tried to force the money back into her hands.

"No it's less then you deserve Rose, besides with a family like mine they aren't gonna miss a couple of hundred" she laughed and turned to go back inside "See ya tomorrow" she called over her shoulder.

"See ya" Rose walked back to her apart in the dark to find a red rose on her doorstep. She picked it up eagerly but her face fell when she recognised the handwriting. 'Dear Rose, I'm finally out and back in town, I'd love to catch up with you, I know how forgiving you are so that won't be a problem surely. Your mum gave me your address; she still doesn't know what happened does she? Thank you for keeping it our little secret, love always and forever, Jimmy'.

Rose felt slightly sick and went inside and straight to bed without a thought for her clothes or her shoes. That night she had a nightmare of the night that Jimmy had snapped, she could never bring herself to tell her mother about it she really liked Jimmy and would have been heartbroken. Instead of telling anyone, Rose had faked an accident and then turned to Mickey as her support, she knew it was selfish but he'd been so caring and eventually she'd fallen in love with him.

She awoke covered in sweat and still wearing her work clothes; she shook her head and almost ran towards the shower where she spent a good few minutes before getting out and changing into her new dress. It was really pretty and a bit fancier then her usual tastes but she loved it all the same. It was made from a bright red material and had pretty diamond sequins trailing down diagonally from the shoulder. She pulled out her new pair of silver sandals and put them on with the red, she admired her reflection in the mirror. Donna had told her that she loved to wear red because red automatically draws attention and demands respect, only now did she get what Donna had meant, usually she thought red looked cheap on her but right at that moment she loved it. She self-consciously adjusted the dress to hide the scar on her collarbone. The scar seemed even more prominent now that the cause for it was back in town or maybe it was just her paranoia.

The drive to the estate took a couple of hours so Donna had told Rose to bring a few sets of clothes and to be prepared for staying the whole weekend. Rose had packed her better, more stylish clothes so that she could at least try to play the part of a successful twenty-something year old when really she was just a twenty two year old shopgirl or waitress but they didn't have to know that.

At the gateway she was greeted by a very friendly man who said he had to make sure she was on the list "Um Rose Tyler" she smiled at him and he ran his pen quickly down the list to find her name.

"Oh it says here that you are on the VIP list so you get to park your car in the more long-term area" he pulled out a slip of paper a quickly wrote a note down on it "Give this to the valet and he will park your car where you need it to be and attend to your luggage".

"Right thank you Ahh..."

"Richard" he beamed at her for giving him some recognition.

"Thank you Richard" she grinned and drove down the gravel track towards the house to where a young man was waiting eagerly for her. The whole process was very quick and she soon gathered that not all of the guests would be as polite and accommodating to the help.

She walked slowly up the stairs clutching her purse tightly in her hand. At the door there were another two men to open the door to her and she thanked them both individually earning her more smiles and cheeriness, one of them even wished her luck inside and she just giggled.

When she was directed through the immaculate...well castle wouldn't even describe it, she found herself out the other side of the house where there were poshly dressed people everywhere sipping wine and talking pleasantly to each other, she now knew what the doorman had meant by good luck.

She spotted Donna over by the fountain speaking to a very handsome man who she assumed must be Jack Harkness. Donna waved her over and she walked shyly towards them.

"Hello" the guy bowed, he was even better looking close up "Captain Jack Harkness".

"Nice to meet you Captain?" she took the hand he offered her and was only slightly surprised when he bent down to kiss it.

"Yeah I'm a Captain" he winked at her.

"Anyway I better go get John" Donna quickly interrupted and shot Jack a warning look.

"So how do you know Donna?" Jack asked her politely offering her a drink from a passing waiter.

"I work for her at her restaurant" Rose said proudly despite her job being nothing compared to most of the people present who were obviously various shades of millionaire and/or genius.

"That's great" he grinned sincerely "I bet she told you to be careful of me".

"She might have said something like that" Rose giggled.

"Well she's a tough one, I've got a bit of a thing for her I must say" Jack admitted shamelessly.

"Oh really that's adorable!" Rose grinned and looked over nervously at Donna who was currently distracted chatting to a bunch of girls. "I better go see if I can meet some of these people" she glanced around and thought just for a second that she saw a very familiar long brown coat trail around the corner.

"Let me help you then" Jack offered her his arm "I can introduce you to whomever you want, I know almost everyone here. Have you met John, Donna seems a bit distracted so let's go hunt down John Smith".

"Alright then" Rose grinned and took his arm cheerfully. They moved through the crowd slowly as Jack charmed everyone and introduced Rose in a way that made her sound a lot more important than she really was.

"How do you do that?" she asked after they'd moved on from yet another person who thought she was almost running Donna's restaurant.

"Oh I dunno it's just automatic always has been" he grinned at her and she couldn't help blushing "alright now where's pinstripes?"

"Pinstripes?" she asked guessing who he was talking about and began to get nervous with anticipation.

"That's one of John's nicknames, he's always wearing pinstriped suits I bet he even wears them to bed. There's also his coat" he continued and Rose got a clear image of what he was talking about in her head "Big long trench coat, he's a little strange but I have to say he's a good bloke, you know both in looks and personality".

"I can't wait to meet him" rose smiled sweetly and Jacks grin toned down a little bit.

"Just make sure you're nice to him...not that you're not nice" he held up his hands before she could think he was offending her "But he is very sensitive about...well the project he lost recently. He started it with his wife but now that she's gone it was the only thing he had to remember her by".

"What do you mean? Doesn't he have pictures or something?"

"Nope the fire that killed her burned down their house so he's got nothing left now and although he won't admit it, it hurts him a great deal...ah there he is I'll go get him for ya" Jack raced towards a man with his back to them. Rose could tell by the coat and the hair alone that her John and John Smith were one in the same. Again with the HER John thing. 'Stop it Rose stop it!' she sighed and watched as Jack tapped him on the shoulder and his head turned to reveal a brilliant smile. They talked for a few moments before Jack gestured in Rose's direction and John caught her eyes causing a bright red blush to spread over her face.

He walked towards her slightly stiffly but with the grin still plastered on his face "Rose Tyler" he laughed and she held out her hand to him which much to her disappointment he shook warmly instead of kissing.

"So John Smith aye?" she cocked an eyebrow and he let out a nervous laugh.

"Uh yeah sorry about that but you never told me your last name either" he shrugged and she frowned.

"How did you know my last name exactly?"

"Weeeeellllll that morning Donna was looking for your file and I may have found it" he grinned sheepishly "Then when I met you it took me completely by surprise".

"So you just decided to let me go on about all that your sister said to me" Rose looked a little annoyed at him despite her unavoidable attraction to him.

"Looks like you two have met" Jack raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Yeah I didn't know it was him though" Rose smiled at him "But now I do. Will you please excuse me for a moment?"

"Uh Sure" Jack smiled at her and watched her walk away towards the maze of hedges and trees towards the back of the garden "What's up with you two?"

"I dunno I've only met her once" John looked puzzled "Should I go after her?"

"Nah you've got the whole weekend of her here to get yourself back in her good books Doc" Jack patted his shoulder.

"Yeah but what if she doesn't stay, I better go after her Jack and don't call me Doc" he slipped past him and after Rose without another word.

It didn't take John long to find Rose in the maze due to the amount of time he'd spent in there as a child "Rose".

"Oh hi" she said awkwardly "Uh what did you want?".

"What's wrong with you? I mean sorry that came out wrong, what did I do?" he stepped closer to the seat where she was now undoing her sandals on.

"You didn't do anything" she tried to smile up at him but just looked strained "Well apart from not telling me who you were but I'm fine, perfectly so".

"There's something you're not telling me Rose" he sat down beside her and she self-consciously shifted her dress to make sure her scar was well and truly covered.

"There's lots I'm not telling you" she scoffed "I hardly know you or have you forgotten that?" she couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Yeah well I know you might not feel that way but when I meet someone I can just tell if they're worth it or not...well usually unless they force themselves on me though most people don't do that..." he trailed off thoughtfully "My point is that I feel like I can trust you completely already and I'm glad I'll have the opportunity to get to know you better this weekend".

She smiled a genuine smile at him and he relaxed significantly "I have a lot of issues" she sighed "I really don't think I'm the sort of person any of you here should really get to know".

"But why?" he looked at her in puzzlement "If you have problems won't being around new people and experiencing new things be good for you?"

"Why do you have to be so smart?" she laughed "That generally works when people want to be closer to me".

"Come on" he stood up and offered her his hand.

She took the hand offered and he draped an arm around her shoulders "So anyway John Smith..."

"Yeah?"

"Is it true you go through women like toilet paper?"

His face fell slightly and he frowned "No of course not Weeeeellllll...a lot of them pursue me mostly because of my money and they turn out to be the total opposite of what they originally led me to believe. You know they want a little money, a few connections maybe, but when they're done they dump me".

"So why do you think Donna warned me then if she knew it?"

"Well she doesn't know all of it and besides maybe it's not me she was warning you about, maybe it's you".

"What do you mean by that?" she stopped and turned to him so that he had to drop his arm off her shoulders.

"Well I think it's because I'm just too darn hot" he grinned and she rolled her eyes.

She lifted a hand to his forehead causing him to tense up at her touch "Well I think your no hotter than average really" she shrugged.

"Really? No hotter than average are you sure?"

"Ok maybe you're a little warm but you're not breaking a fever or anything" she continued the teasing in a surprisingly flirtatious manner.

"Ok Rose Tyler I think you'll find that I'm burning up" he felt his forehead "Yep definitely".

They were approaching the fountain now and several couple had started staring at them. Was it really such a shock for them to see the guest of honour talking to the lowly waitress? "Maybe you should take dip" she gestured to the fountain "Cool you right off".

He grinned at her and glanced around at the people who were staring "I think some of these people might need a good dunking" he murmured quietly so no one could hear.

"They keep looking at me like I'm dirt just for talking to you" she said forlornly.

"Just go with me on this" he cupped her face in his hands quickly but gently and captured her lips in a long and passionate kiss during which she couldn't help but run her fingers through his amazing hair.

"What...What was that?!" Rose gasped but kept her voice low so as not to cause a scene.

"That was me saving you from any further ridicule" he wiped a bit of lipstick off the corner of his upper lip and beamed at her.

"Uh..." she was speechless; she wasn't expecting that at all let alone from John Smith.

"Yeah" he smiled around at the people still watching them who soon turned away but continued to mutter.

"I better go to the bathroom I think" she avoided his eyes as she spoke "I'll have to go tidy myself up" she turned and walked up towards the house.

"What on Earth are you playing at?!" John heard the voice of his sister and automatically braced himself.

"What?"

"Kissing Rose like that, I promised her...she's got...if she didn't tell you then I better not" Donna finished weakly.

"I know she has problems Donna but I want to help them through them and don't worry I only did that so these people" he gestured around them in a subtle way so as not to attract unwanted attention "Stop treating her like she's some sort of peasant because she's a waitress".

Donna's face softened "I knew that'd be a problem, why did we invite all these people again?"

"Because Donna" John said calmly "They were our mother and fathers friends...then there's the other people who are Grandpa Wilf's bingo pals" he grinned.

Donna just rolled her eyes "Anyway what were you talking to Rose about? I mean pre-snog of course".

"Well Rose and I had already met a few days ago but she didn't know who I actually was and I kind of used that to my advantage to find out what you said about me" he smirked.

"Oh" she bit her lip "She didn't tell you about the whole..."

"Toilet paper thing? Yep. Donna you know that it's not my fault so many women end up deceiving me" he sighed dramatically "But I also know that that wasn't the reason why you told her was it?"

"No, she's got a past John. I may be respecting her privacy here but I can say that I was trying to protect her from men...all men even you spaceman".

"Does that include Jack?" he raised an eyebrow.

Donna rolled her eyes again and nodded her head "Well you can't really stop him anyway, I was going to get you when I got distracted and Jack took off with Rose".

"You were coming to get me?"

"Yeah well Rose had talked about this John fellow she'd met and I thought well well well if there's a chance it was you then I had to take it, I just wish I'd seen the look on her face" Donna smiled.

"She blushed" he grinned again before turning towards the house "How long do you think she'll be? Do you think she left?"

"Calm down spaceman" Donna thumped him on the arm "You've got a whole weekend to worry about yet so be patient".

**Ok so do you want more? I'm quite enjoying writing this off to the side of my other stories :) Let me know what you thought. Thanks for being so nice to me after my first AU chapter :) Also as I said on one of my other stories I just updated: If you want to be a character in any of my future stories just message me and we can talk about it :) Thanks guys **


	3. The things we believe

**Hey guys next part! How good am I?! Nah I just thought I better update this one as I have an enormous heap of homework and assignments. You know teachers, you tell em you've got heaps of assignments and they say Oh great add this Essay and this report on top of that narrative. Anyway :P I hope you like it, it's been distracting me for ages but now that I've updated something I can have just a little bit of peace for the afternoon. Thanks for everything, please review ;)**

Rose spent much longer then she needed to in the bathroom fixing herself up. Was it her fault that an incredibly attractive and charming man had just kissed her? She thought not. Was it her fault that she'd kissed back? Well...probably. She turned the tap off and sighed deeply. A knock at the door startled her and she totally blanked for a moment "Uh I'll be out in a moment, sorry for taking so long" she added guiltily even though she knew that if someone had really urgently needed the bathroom they would have gone to one of the many others in the castle.

"Yeah don't worry I don't need the bathroom, take your time" came John's voice and she felt adrenaline course through her, there was no way of getting out of it so she'd have to face him sooner rather than later.

She opened the door and stepped out slowly to find him leaning against the opposite wall with his head down in deep thought "Uh it's free now if you need to..."

"No" he lifted his eyes to look at her "I needed to apologise; I uh...wasn't thinking straight I suppose. It doesn't often happen to me but you were just so worried about people treating you differently and I thought if they thought that you were with me then maybe they'd leave you alone".

"So you think being with you gives girls a free pass to keep their lives private?" she asked both puzzled and annoyed.

He heard the annoyance in her voice and flinched noticeably "If I'm perfectly honest then yes it usually means that, not that I've had enough girlfriends to properly test that theory but I should hope that if people see that someone is important to me that they'll just let it go respect my choices".

"So you want me to pretend to be your girlfriend for the weekend?" Rose asked hardly believing her luck. Was that desperate? Insane maybe? Yeah possibly but no one would ever have to find out.

"Well yeah...I uh...I wanted to make this weekend easier on you...you know being stuck here with all the snobs and aristocrats" he grinned at her and she couldn't stifle her giggle quite quickly enough.

"Alright Sir Smith" she joked "Maybe this weekend would be easier if I consented. Just one thing though..."

"What is it? Anything, ask me anything?" he beamed at her.

"What am I supposed to call you?" she asked giggling again at the look of confusion on his face.

"Oh well you could call me honey or sweetie, my friends call me the Doctor but you don't have to, hmmm..." he was lost in thought for a moment "I don't really mind unless you're insulting me" he grinned "So love, what would prefer me to call you?"

Rose blushed and smiled at him "Well I don't really mind, dear, love, sweetie, honey...anything but babe really" she said trying not to shudder at the name that Jimmy used to call her.

"Alright then beautiful" he smiled softly offering her his arm "Are you ready to charm the pants off some posh people?"

"Now that one I like" she winked before taking his arm "I do hope that's not a euphemism".

"Of course not" he paused before opening the door to go back outside "One more thing...it's a bit awkward but kissing...uh..."

"I'm fine with it Doctor" if she was ever truly sincere in saying anything in her life that was it.

"Oh...good then no problem then" he leaned forward and kissed her snaking his arms around her waist. He really liked it when she used his nickname though he'd never admit it.

Her hands found his great hair again and she kissed him back keenly. Rose was lost, the kiss was all she could think about and how she wished it were a real kiss between them. It felt real, how much more real could someone snogging you senseless feel? Jimmy would flip if he saw Rose right now, her mouth glued to Johns. He could get lost for all she cared, John seemed amazing and hadn't given her any inkling that he would become violent if he lost his temper and that was enough for her to maybe even start falling for him a little bit. Too soon? Maybe. Did it matter to her? Not at all.

He pulled back from her much to her disappointment and grinned at her pouting face "You think they'll believe that?" he asked her with his voice husky.

"Yeah" she breathed, trying desperately to find her voice again "Yeah I think they will". They stepped out of the door with Rose on Johns arm. Donna made eye contact with Rose and shook her head smiling. Rose just shrugged and then smiled at John who was still grinning goofily at her.

"Alright so what now?" Rose asked once they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Well we need to circulate and socialise, I'll answer all the questions and you just have to agree. Don't worry I'll attract as much attention away from you as possible" he smiled and she nodded.

The day progressed quite quickly after that, Rose soon learnt most of the people there were rich, famous or had some sort of title, usually a combination of all three. When afternoon came several of the guests said their goodbyes and went back to their own various estates and mansions. Only about fifty people were left and they were the guests who would be staying for the whole weekend. Rose noticed there were little groups amongst them like there was a large group of attractive young men who were no doubt the Doctor's friends and co-workers. Then there was the female equivalent of them who stared daggers at her for even being near him.

"Hey you know how we practiced?" she whispered in his ear.

He didn't need telling twice, he didn't even say anything he just swept her up into his arms for another breathtaking kiss. When they broke apart she glanced at the women who all looked very ruffled and annoyed especially one blonde.

"Who's the..." Rose started to ask but he cut her off.

"My ex-girlfriend" he looked over at her with serious eyes "I don't know why she's even here she broke up with me".

"Why would she do that?" Rose asked seriously before she realised what she had just said.

He smirked at her "Well it's nice to know you think that's a totally ridiculous thing to do then" he poked his tongue out and continued "She wanted more from me and I wasn't willing to give it to her".

"What did she want?" Rose felt like she was maybe being a little bit intrusive but she was playing his girlfriend after all and quite enjoying it.

"Well...you know" he looked at her awkwardly and she just blinked up at him "Oh for goodness sake Rose what do two people do together to show their love?" he hinted

"Ah so you wouldn't sleep with her" she understood and he nodded "Why not?" she asked frowning "Look at her she's beautiful".

"Well I don't sleep with every beautiful girl I meet" he grinned at her "I have to confess something".

"Ok" he sounded serious so she allowed him to continue.

"I haven't slept with anyone since my wife died" he blurted out quietly enough that others wouldn't hear but still loud enough to make to her backtrack. He looked sadly at her and she smiled at him with more emotions then she probably should have shown.

"That is so..." she paused and she could feel his tension "Admirable" she squeezed his arm slightly and he relaxed.

"Oh thank you I thought you were gonna be like well I know this is only pretend but I'm not having that and you'd walk away" he still looked slightly worried.

"Hey don't worry" she smiled at him and placed a hand on his cheek "If you thought I was that kind of girl then you mustn't really know me Doctor".

He leaned into her hand slightly and she felt the warmth of his cheek radiating into her hand "Thank you, just so you know, I don't go through women like toilet paper they just use me over and over again".

"I know you already said"-

"Yes but I'm really serious now, I care what you think and I promise you that I not a shallow womaniser like Donna might have made me out to be".

"I know Doctor" she smiled at him "I knew as soon as I knew you were John that that just couldn't be possible and that she was just trying to protect me".

"Rose what was she trying to protect you from? She wouldn't tell me, she said that if you wanted to tell me you would".

"Someday maybe" Rose patted his arm and smiled "But not today alright? Let's just enjoy the weekend pretending to be a couple and then maybe if you see me at the restaurant or something then we can chat".

"I'd really like that" he nodded his head enthusiastically and she grinned at him.

After that the afternoon was a blur of champagne, wine and socialising, oh and just a few kisses here and there. Rose found that she really liked kissing him so much that she wondered if she could stop when they didn't have to pretend anymore. Of course they were going to have to pretend for the whole weekend. Rose felt content being even his pretend girlfriend; he had this protective side that made her feel wanted unlike when she had been with Jimmy. Sure Mickey had been a very protective person but he was more of a best friend then a boyfriend and she didn't feel quite as safe as she had with John the past few hours of the party.

John looked over at Rose who was sitting on one of the benches waiting for him to return from his 'short' conversation with Lady Christina Desouza who was obviously after him. He had already told Rose that although she was beautiful Lady Christina was a little too wild for his tastes and enjoyed doing daring and somewhat illegal things.

An older women walked over and sat with Rose and she smiled at her "Hello Rose, John hasn't introduced us but I'm Sarah-Jane Smith, his older sister" she smiled and held out a hand.

"HI" Rose smiled and shook her hand "I'm Rose obviously" she laughed.

"So you're his date I presume?" she asked politely.

"Yeah well I work for Donna so she invited me, he's just pretending to be my boyfriend in order to make people shut and respect me pretty much" she smiled holding back another laugh.

"Well" Sarah-Jane raised her eyebrows "You should well privileged then, it's not every day he'd do that for someone".

"He's a very nice man" she nodded "I met him a few days ago in the park".

"Ah I thought you must be that Rose" she nodded and took another drink from her glass.

"Which Rose might that be?" Rose asked intrigued.

"Oh I shouldn't really say anything but...well John hasn't shut up about you since the day he met you, he never said anything to Donna of course because she would do her nut at him if she knew he was saying those things about one of her employees".

"What did he say about me?" Rose was shocked and now she was determined.

Sarah-Jane sighed "Well you know I really shouldn't...he said you were the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and that he'd bet that you were a fantastic kisser" she blushed.

"Well..." Rose giggled "Um...well me being his fake girlfriend and all has given him plenty of opportunities to test that theory".

"And has he?" she laughed.

"Yep just a few times" Rose nodded and they both burst into fits of laughter as John came back over.

"Alright what's funny?" he asked innocently making them laugh even harder.

"I..." Rose spluttered but she was shaking with too much laughter to speak.

Sarah-Jane tried to compose herself enough to talk "Just a joke among friends nothing to concern you".

"You seem to be having fun" John smiled at his sister "I can't remember the last time I saw you laugh this much".

"Well we all have responsibilities" Sarah-Jane nodded before making eye contact with Rose and snickering once more.

"Annnnywaaaaay..." John drawled out "May I have my date back Sarah-Jane or are you guys having too much fun?"

"Oh no its ok" Sarah-Jane stood up and Rose did too "I'd wager we'd have more fun than you did over there" she nodded towards Lady Christina who kept eyeing Rose with a look of utter distaste.

John sighed "Christina, always trying to get me to go on some adventure with her" he shook his head "Anyway Rose" he beamed at her "How are you enjoying the party? You've met all the siblings now haven't you?"

"Well unless you've got another one hiding around then yes" she grinned and looked around "Is it terribly rude of me to ask where your parents are?"

She saw John immediately tense up and he mumbled something about getting a drink before wandering off and nodding to Sarah-Jane as he went. "I'm sorry" Sarah-Jane patted her arm "He's just a little sensitive about our parents. They died in the same fire that killed his wife and he has never quite gotten over the guilt I suppose. He blames himself for it, one of his experiments was very fragile and when something fell over it caused a chain reaction which then in turn caused the building to blow up. Luckily for us we were all out buying more ice-cream for dessert, we'd decided we'd do it that day instead of the servants" she sighed "John always says if he hadn't have balanced the acid so close to the corner of the table then none of it would have happened".

"So he blames himself?" Rose felt heartbroken for the man and brushed away a single tear that fell down her cheek.

"Yes" Sara-Jane nodded wiping away her own tears "You can still hear him muttering to himself about it sometimes".

John watched in the distance as Sarah-Jane told Rose about what had happened. He was surprised to see her crying and when she embraced Sarah-Jane he felt his heart melt for her, he couldn't help it, he was falling in love with this girl and there was nothing he could do to stop it even if he wanted to.

"I really like your brother Sarah-Jane" Rose smiled at her when she pulled back from her embrace.

"I know you do" Sarah-Jane smiled softly at her "you two together, even when you are just pretending it just seems so real...you fit perfectly and I think you both know it".

"I have a past though Sarah-Jane" Rose sniffed and smiled sadly wiping away her tears again.

"So does he Rose, do you really think he'll care that you have a past if you're able to accept his?"

"I would never blame him for what happened to your parents and his wife, I may not know him well but I know that he would never deliberately harm anyone".

"I'm sure he'd be glad to hear that" Sarah-Jane looked past Rose to where John was returning "You enjoy the party Rose and make sure he takes care of you".

"Will do" Rose grinned and waved as Sarah-Jane went back to blend with a group for women her age.

"So..." John managed a small smile.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know about your parents" she blurted.

"It's ok you couldn't have known" he offered her his arm and she took his hand in hers.

"You shouldn't blame yourself John" she squeezed his hand and he looked into her eyes before sighing deeply.

"Sarah-Jane?" he asked her exasperatedly.

"Yeah she's worried about you and so am I" Rose stroked his hand with her thumb.

"But why are you? You hardly know me".

"Yes you're right I don't know you that well but I know that you're a good person" she smiled.

"Rose Tyler you have a lot of faith in strangers".

"I really don't have that much faith in strangers" she admitted "I just...I get a feeling about some people and you and your family are definitely the kind of people I'd like to get to know".

"And what about Jack?" he asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Jack, well he's very handsome and a total flirt..."

"And you like that?" he asked sounding a little uneasy.

She patted his arm "Don't worry darling I have no eyes for anyone but you" she grinned and he laughed but actually began to wonder if she really liked Jack or if she actually liked him, surely not though, they hardly knew each other.

The evening air was cool and everyone started to retire to their rooms inside before they had dinner. John showed Rose up to where she'd be staying "Thank you" she turned to him outside the door "Today was fantastic".

"You're acting like this is just a date" he grinned "You will be at dinner right?" he sounded adorably hopeful and it made her smile.  
"Of course I will" she planted a soft lingering kiss on his cheek. He reacted straight away and captured her lips with his own. She gasped and he grinned against her mouth in satisfaction.

"Sorry" he stepped back and shrugged unapologetically "You know...practice" he grinned wickedly.

Rose stepped forward again and pulled him to her again kissing him tenderly. When they broke apart it was his turn to look dazed and it was her turn to grin "Practice is good, though I never thought I'd enjoy it so much".

"You didn't think I was a good kisser?" he kissed her lips again.

"You know that's not what I meant" she laughed and kissed his cheek one last time before turning to the door and going inside leaving him gawping after her.

Dinner was served in an enormous ballroom with tables off to the side. An orchestra played while couples danced around to the room; to Rose this looked like the epitome of class and sophistication. She felt so underdressed next to all those women with their freshly done hair and different ball gowns and evening dresses. Something told her that a lot of these women were very competitive about who had the most expensive and beautiful clothing.

The same blonde girl that Rose recognised as John's ex came swishing over to her in a beautiful golden dress. "So you're John's girlfriend?" she asked but it sounded like more of an accusation.

"Yep that's me" Rose smiled at her politely.

"Can I give you some advice?" again it didn't really sound like a question, more of an order.

"I'm guessing you're about to" Rose kept the sweet smile on her face the whole time.

"Alright listen, you may think that you have the perfect romance with him but you don't alright? I know that, no one like you" she gestured to her in disgust "will ever be with someone like him" she looked over to where John was laughing with Sarah-Jane "He may say he doesn't mind your poverty or your poxy taste in clothes but I know better than that, I've seen many girls like you crash and burn and you seem alright so I thought you deserved the warning".

Her words hit Rose like blades through her chest "What is your name?" her voice shook slightly and she held back her tears.

"Reinette darling" the girl smiled down at her from her six inch heels.

"Well thank you Reinette" Rose smiled at her sweetly "Don't worry I wasn't staying anyway" she pushed her way out of the room and ran up the stairs. She turned and saw John looking at her through the crowd but she just smiled through her now cascading tears and fled.

When she had made sure everything was packed she raced downstairs again and out to where the valet was waiting for her. "Not staying the weekend then miss?" he asked sounding disappointed, he'd really liked her.

"No sorry uh...tell Donna...just tell her I had a family emergency" Rose smiled stiffly and hopped into the driver's seat. The engine roared into life and she took off down the track towards the gates.

John raced outside to see the taillights of a car in the distance "You there" he called to the attendant "Who was that?"

"That would be Rose Tyler" he boy said sadly "Too bad really I thought she was staying longer, nice lady, really nice".

"Yeah" John sighed "Did she say why she was leaving?"

"She said to tell Donna that she had a family emergency".

"Did she say to tell me anything?"

"No sir, only Donna sorry sir" he smiled sympathetically.

John walked backwards a few steps and waited until the car drove out of sight completely. Sitting on the steps he rested his chin on his clasped hands 'What had he done now?'

**Alright so Rose seemed to be having a great time...just a little insecure about herself after the whole Jimmy thing but we'll come to that later. Hope you liked it and I just wanted to say that I know that there was a lot of kissing but I couldn't help myself when I had an excuse to make them flirt and kiss ok? :P Thank you guys, stay awesome! ;)**


	4. We know better

**Hello again! I really must say that this story is going a whole other direction to what I had originally planned but I guess that's what happens when you don't write things down and you watch too much Bones at once :P Anyway I hope you like it and the next one might be up next week. I say might because I have year ten exams next week but we'll see. Thanks for your support ;)**

* * *

Rose busied herself with her work for the rest of the weekend and she definitely wasn't thinking about a pair of chocolate-coloured eyes. Reinette was right really, of course she didn't belong with him and she felt foolish for ever allowing herself to feel like there could be something more than a harmless flirtation. She had also seen Jimmy skulking around well not really skulking but after what had happened in the past Rose always assumed that he was up to no good and she was still right more times than wrong.

On Monday Rose walked to work and tried to lose herself in her usual morning routine. It wasn't until she was walking along a crowded path after her shift ended that she saw in the distance a very familiar spiky brown haired man and she started to cry. She leant against a light post and cleaned herself up.

"Hey babe" came a voice from beside her and she jumped back in shock.

"Jimmy, what are you doing here?" she gasped.

"Well I know you got my note, I'm back in town and I'm gonna make good with my life now, I've changed my ways" he reached out to touch her cheek and she automatically flinched.

"If you're come to make a better life for yourself then you better not involve me in it" she sighed "I'm sorry Jimmy but there's no way I can trust you to be alone with me, in fact I thought I had a restraining order on you anyway".

"You don't have to be a little miss about it Rose" he stepped closer "I will always be coming back for you" he raised his hand to touch the scar that was just slightly visible out the side of her shirt neckline.

"Don't touch me" she spat at him "I've been trying to make my own life better since you messed me up and I think you should do the same...but elsewhere".

"Fine, but I'll see you again" he stepped away pointing back at her "You mark my words, you're gonna want me back".

John watched the whole exchange from afar, even though he couldn't hear them most of the time, he knew that the man had been hostile to Rose. She was in tears and rushed along the path in his direction. He wasn't sure if he should stop her or not, it was clear that she was upset but she wouldn't want to talk to him about it right?

Rose rushed along the footpath and away from Jimmy. She was angry with herself, how did she expect the first meeting to after such a possessive letter. She barely noticed when she ran straight into someone standing still in the middle of the path.

"I am so sorry!" she looked up into the warm chocolate eyes and felt her stress melt away.

"Hey it's alright" John smiled down at her.

"I'm just not myself today" she smiled sadly.

"Yeah I saw" he looked back down the path towards where her and Jimmy had just been arguing "Are you ok?"

"Ah" she tried to avoid his gaze and his question "Well anyway I better go, lots to do before I go to work".

"So I guess you can't hang out for a while?" he asked disappointedly.

She looked at his pleading eyes and felt her control start to disappear but she shook those thoughts away "No sorry I can't stop right now" she gave him a pained smile "It probably wouldn't be appropriate".

"Why not?" he frowned, not trying at all to hide how disappointed he was.

"Just don't worry about it" she started to walk away still facing him "I'll see you around".

"Uh yeah" he watched her go and hurried back home to where Donna was preparing some of the ingredients she needed to deliver early to her chef.

"Hey Spaceman" she smiled as he walked in "What's up with you?"

"I dunno" he stripped off his long coat and went to lay on the lounge "I saw Rose today in the street arguing with this guy, he seemed a bit possessive if you ask me".

Donna suddenly stopped dead in interest, not that Rose had been her employee for long or that she had any right to dig into her personal life but she just couldn't help but feel that the man John was talking about might have been the same one Rose described to her.

"Did you at least talk to her?" Donna asked, trying to turn the conversation to something less personal to Rose.

"Yeah just for a mo." He frowned slightly as he recalled their short conversation "I asked if she wanted to hang out but she said she was busy, do you think Saturday was too much for her? Or maybe I was a bit creepy?"

"Nah" Donna shook her head "Rose knows you're not that kind of bloke and she seemed to be really enjoying herself, I think someone must have said something to her".

"What do you mean someone?" he sat up slightly and studied her with interest.

"Well let's think" Donna made an exaggerated thinking pose "Who thinks they are better than everyone else and would stop at nothing to get you back again?"

"Reinette" John nearly spat out the word, he would never be able to understand what he found so great about that girl. He called her a girl because no grown woman would act so immature and fight like a schoolgirl.

"Now you're getting it" Donna nodded slowly "Gold star".

"So you reckon Reinette said something to her then?"

"Yeah ya dumbo" she raised an eyebrow at him "Anyway why don't you ask her yourself? She's working tonight".

"Maybe I will then" he sat up and walked over to the doorframe "Donna I really like her, I know it hasn't been very long since I met her but I really like her" he blushed.

"Awww you are so cute" she strode over to him and pulled him into a big hug "You better take care of her".

"Donna calm down you're acting like I'm going to propose to the woman" he hugged her back but frowned down at her.

"Well you're kinda talking like you've got a case of love at first sight so..." she shrugged "If only we were all so lucky aye?"

"You could have anyone" he grinned at her "There's Jack...and Rory and Craig".

"Jack is a womaniser" she raised a finger "Rory is so into that girl Amy from the boutique up the road from the restaurant" ticked of another finger "and Craig is so ridiculously in love with Sophie that it's just outrageous".

"Alright, alright" he raised his hands defensively "What about Adam or Jack's mate Jake?"

"Oi stop trying to set me up with someone, right now what's important is you and a certain blonde waitress alright?"

"Fine then" he sighed "But soon it will be your turn little sister" he gave her the 'I'm watching you' gesture as he walked out of the room considerably more cheerful then he had been when he had gotten home earlier.

Rose entered the restaurant that night feeling drained and lousy. Not only had Jimmy sucked any happiness out of her day but he had made her feel like a complete failure. Little by little the self-esteem she had managed to build over the past couple of years started to melt away and Rose breathed deeply, opened the kitchen door and dove straight into her work as the sinking feeling surrounded her yet again for the second time since Jimmy had broken her heart.

"Rose are you quite alright?" Donna asked later on in the evening when things were getting late and the numbers in the restaurant were dwindling.

Rose was pulled from her thoughts "Uh yeah, yeah I'm fine I just...I saw Jimmy today".

Donna's eyes widened "He didn't hurt you did he because if he did..." she spoke through gritted teeth.

"Who hurt you?" John appeared in the doorway with two big bunches of assorted roses.

"No one" Donna turned to face him and frowned "What are the flowers for exactly?"

"Well..." he shifted his feet slightly nervously "I thought you might like your usual bunch" he handed them to her and he sniffed them "And then I remembered that Rose was working and I thought she might like some too" he offered the flowers to Rose who smiled sweetly through what had obviously been becoming tears before he'd turned up.

"Oh look at the time" Donna exclaimed, hating to interrupt the two who'd begun some sort of staring competition by the looks of it "We'd better go. Oi Matt!" she called to the crazy chef who always insisted on wearing that stupid bowtie, well in her opinion it was stupid.

"Yeah?" he came bounding over, not seeming to have lost any of his energy from running a kitchen all night "What's happened? Who's hurt? What can I do?" he'd noticed Rose's tear-streaked face and was suddenly concerned.

"I just need you to lock up tonight ok?" Donna rolled her eyes at him "You've done it before remember?"

"Ahh yes keys" he took them from her and held them out in front of him "I think I could do that" he peeked through the hole in the kitchen door "Ahh the critic's still here" he turned back to them with a fearful look in his eyes.

"Hey you're a great chef Matt" Rose patted his shoulder "Besides I've talked to her a couple of times and she's lovely".

"She knows everything about me" he said quietly with wide eyes making Rose snort.

"River is great, now we have to get going so you make sure you clean this place up before you go, I don't want to come in tomorrow and find stuff everywhere like last time mister" Donna pointed a finger at him.

The three of them trooped outside and Donna walked over to her car "Are you guys coming with me or do you want to walk home?" she asked nicely, not frustrated like she usually did.

"I'll walk Donna" Rose smiled "Don't worry about me".

"Listen here Miss" Donna chucked her stuff in the backseat of her car and raced over to them both "You are not walking home alone ok? If you want to walk then John will have to go with you because I can't leave my car here".

"I'll go with her it's ok Donna" John smiled at Rose but inwardly frowned at how protective Donna was being over Rose, it was a nice neighbourhood and it wasn't like Rose could get lost but then again there had been that bloke from earlier that day who didn't look too friendly towards her.

"Good, you two have fun" Donna nodded "Oh by the way Rose, do you wanna come to our house this weekend? Have a movie night or something?"

"Ah yeah, yeah sure" Rose grinned at her and then waved goodbye as Donna returned her grin and got into her car.

"Alright Miss Tyler" John began as soon as they were alone "I believe you owe me an explanation".

"For what?" she asked nervously.

"For leaving on Saturday and for avoiding me since" he looked down at her with a pout.

She snorted at how childish and well...cute he looked when he did that "Well Saturday was because I was as good as threatened by a rich cow...well I've always assumed that's how they threaten you, pretend to give you advice. Anyway that's why I was upset and I left, then afterwards you were always talking to someone and I always just thought it was easier to avoid you all together" she admitted shamefully.

"So one woman threatens you in a posh way and you run away? Rose surely you should know me well enough to know that I'm not the sort of person that cares about any differences between us and if I'm honest there really aren't that many of those, you live in a nice neighbourhood and so do I, you work hard and so do I..."

"And you've got an estate and probably an insanely nice apartment and expensive clothes and good looks and intelligence and just brilliance" Rose blurted out before sighing and running a hand through her hair.

"And you think you don't have all those things?" he asked holding onto her arm to stop her pace "Well excluding the estate".

"No, I don't think I have any of those things and that's why I took the blondes warning and stayed away from you" she looked up at him and he could see her depression settling in. He knew it was strange to just be able to see it but he recognised it from how he'd been when his wife died.

"Stop it Rose" he looked down at her with serious eyes "You are absolutely beautiful" he leaned down and kissed her softly.

It shocked Rose for a minute but she continued to kiss back until she came to her senses "John" she gasped "We hardly know each other and we keep kissing, it just doesn't work like that".

"You don't want to kiss me?" he asked waggling his eyebrows at her.

"Shut up" she smacked his arm "You know that's not what I meant. I just meant that if I really am gonna throw Blondie's warning out the window then I'd really like to just get to know you first if that's ok".

"It most certainly is" he beamed at her "But no kissing? At all? Not even a peck?"

"Maybe after a while but I can't do...other stuff til I'm married" she saw the look of confusion on his face "It's not that I haven't come close to doing it before I just...the guy turned out to be a jerk and I never went through with it".

"I'm glad to hear that" he nodded "It's good that you're saving yourself for someone you know is going to love you forever or he should considering you'd be married".

"Now you're starting to ramble" she laughed.

"Sorry, I'm known to do that and don't worry if we ever are anything...more, then I'll be sure not to pressure you for anything I know you can't do because if I'm honest I can't either, not since my wife died" he smiled sadly.

"I'm really sorry about that" she took his hand in hers and squeezed it gently "I know what it's like to lose someone close to you".

"Who did you lose?" he blurted out before he could stop himself "I'm sorry, that was rude".

She grinned and rolled her eyes before becoming serious "Well firstly there was my dad but I was only a baby so I don't remember that, but then there was my best friend Shareen" she shivered "she was a bit of a bad influence on me I have to admit but when she died..." Rose trailed off and shook her head as the tears started "You just never expect something like that" she sniffed and continued "Her death was being treated as suspicious but they gave up ever finding her killer...I was a suspect".

"You were a suspect?" John asked wide-eyed "For the killing of your own best friend?"

"Yeah well that's how mum reacted too but you'd be surprised how often it actually happens" she sighed again "We never did find out who actually did it though".

"Who do you think did it?" she looked up to see his eyes boring into hers.

"Honestly?" she paused for a moment considering her options "No idea" she finished weakly.

John looked away and nodded as they continued to walk towards her street "I wonder if they'll ever find out" he thought aloud.

"I dunno" Rose tried to sound dismissive but she too was thinking about that possibility but with quite different feelings towards the idea then John had. His were of hope and the deliverance of justice while hers were of worry and guilt.

They reached her apartment quickly and she unlocked the door before turning around to face him "Thanks for walking me home, you really didn't have to and thanks for the flowers".

"It was my pleasure" he hesitated for a moment "So does that no-kissing thing start now or next time I see you?" he grinned hopefully.  
She chuckled and stood a little closer "Next time I think" she grinned and leaned up to meet him halfway in another breathtaking kiss.

When they pulled apart she was breathless once and again and had to take a moment to breathe "Wow".

"Yeah I know..." he trailed off, his eyes were wide and he looked utterly adorable, his hair was even messier then it already had been and his cheeks glowed slightly pink. "Any chance we can hold off on that no-kissing rule?"

Rose giggled again "Be patient you" she gave him a peck on the check "Goodnight".

"Good night beautiful Rose" he smiled down at her adoringly and she seemed to glow under his praise.

After he had turned to leave she just stood in the doorway for a few minutes staring after him. He had of course turned around a couple of times on his way, catching her staring at him, but he had just grinned and continued walking in the direction of his home.  
"Who was that?" a voice made her jump and brought her out of her stupor and she turned to see Jimmy leaning against the fence between her house and the neighbours.

"That was one of my friends" she replied flatly.

"Looked like a bit more than a friend darling" his voice sounded dangerous as he took in the roses in her hand.

"You're gonna get in trouble if you don't go away so please don't make be call the police" she folded her arms across her chest and stood defiantly in the doorway.

"You've got more guts than you used to have" he swaggered closer and she tensed at his increasing proximity.

She laughed bitterly "Yeah that's what happens to people who are forced into a new life by a bastard".

"I never said you had to start a new life, I just had to leave for a while and you needed to take care of yourself. So what did you do that you thought was worthwhile? Get a proper education? Screw every guy in the street? What?"

"Don't talk to me like that" she hissed "For your information I finished school and I got my own house, two jobs and friends that care about me".

"So your life is perfect then?" he asked sarcastically "Of course it would be, innocent little Rose" he stepped close so that he was directly in front of her and pulled her chin forward roughly "But we both know that's not true don't we?"

She wrenched herself out of his grasp "No Jimmy my life is not perfect, you wanna know why?" she didn't wait for a response "Because you're still in it and will always be in it, and don't think that that's me being all romantic and wanting you back because there is no way on Earth that I'll ever take you back. That's me saying that throughout my entire life I will have to live with the scars you left me, both physical and emotional and that fact that no matter how much I try to convince myself that it wasn't my fault, the guilt of what happened that night all those years ago will stay with me forever".

Jimmy just stood there speechless for a moment until his smirk returned and he began to laugh. Rose glared at him and stepped inside the door before shutting it in his face. She locked it and ran towards the bathroom. Under the hot water she let her tears fall, Jimmy was back and he still wanted her, after all these years he couldn't risk her being with anyone else, being protected.

John opened the door to their apartment and went inside to find Donna laying on the lounge and drinking a glass of wine. She looked up as he approached and grinned at him "How'd it go?"

"Good" he smiled down at her "It was really good, we talked about a lot and I feel like I know her so much better now".

"Well I'm glad to hear it" Donna smiled to herself "You guys really would make a great couple".

"You think so?" he asked cheerily.

"Of course!" she exclaimed happily "Now spaceman come and dance with me" she stood up and pressed the play button on her CD player.

"New CD?" he nodded his head to the beat.

"Yep, thought I'd try Cat Empire and as usual I was right, they're fantastic!" she started dancing to the music.

"I think I heard this song the other day actually" he walked over to join her "Sleep won't sleep, am I right?"

"I do believe you are now come on spaceman! I don't know how you ever expected to impress Rose at the estate last weekend when you don't even like dancing" she teased.

"I am a fantastic dancer" he took her hand and twirled her around "Besides I really don't think they would have played Cat Empire that night".

"Well they should have" Donna laughed.

"Next time Donna, I'll be sure to request their music".

"You better".

* * *

**There we go so Rose is somehow involved in what happened to Shareen if to haven't already got that. Jimmy is an A hole but he is in most stories people write so why should mine be any different? :P Thanks for reading ;)**

**P.S Definitely listen to 'Sleep won't sleep' by Cat Empire it's funky though it could just be me that likes it (I LOVE CAT EMPIRE!):P**


	5. Discipline

**Hey hey, how are we this fine evening? Good? That's fantastic! Anyway as of tomorrow afternoon I am officially finished with year ten exams so flip yes! I hope you like this chapter, yet again it seems that I try to plan a story and my brain just goes crazy so bear with me :P**

**Little warning for mild violence :O**

Rose rushed around the coffee shop gathering up the cups people had left behind, she'd tried desperately to busy herself in work and stay in public places. When she was alone she felt like any sound was him trying to get to her and any shadow was him coming for her, it was maddening and it was starting to take it's tole on her. She hadn't sleep in two days and there were dark bags under her eyes. She barely noticed when she walked straight into someone.

"Oh hey Rose!" a voice exclaimed happily "How you been?"

She looked up and visibly sighed with relief when she saw it was Jack "Hey Jack" she put down the empty coffee cup and hugged him "I'm great, how are you?"

"I'm great" he winked at her "Donna and I had a great time on the weekend, why'd you leave?"

"Hold on just one second" she raced over behind the counter and put the cup in the sink yelling to her boss that she was taking her lunch break.

When they were walking along outside Jack sipped his coffee and looked at her with a worried expression "So why did you leave then?"

"Well I got a warning from a posh cow and for some reason I let myself listen to her" Rose sighed and laughed "You know the one" she took a large mouthful from her sandwich "Annette or whatever her name is".

"Reinette" Jack nodded "Don't worry I can understand perfectly "Tried to come onto her once" he shook his head "Never again".

Rose laughed "Yeah? What happened?"

"Well she shot me down big time" he chortled "Never had eyes for anyone except John that one".

"Even when he was married?" Rose asked frowning slightly.

"Yeah, definitely when he was married" Jack nodded "She wouldn't stop until she got him and when she did...well she didn't know what to do with him, she didn't love him but she'd finally hooked him so she couldn't exactly let him go".

"So did he...was he close with her at the same time as his wife?" Rose asked awkwardly.

Jacks head snapped up and he looked at her in shock "How can you think that? No he would never, ever cheat in his wife! In fact for a while after people started to suspect that Reinette'd had something to do with her death".

"I know I'm sorry I just don't understand how after he'd lost his wife that Reinette managed to ensnare him" Rose frowned "I mean it's not as if he could have been helpless in the world, he had the foundation to rebuild himself a great life, I mean no disrespect to your friend Jack, I know he's a fantastic man" she smiled up at him and he softened a bit.

"Well if you'd have lost someone like he did...he loved her so much and he lost both his parents at the same time, she was pregnant you know so he lost almost everything he cared about that day. He holds his siblings very close to him and he counts me as one of them now".

"She was pregnant?!" Rose clasped her hand to her mouth "Oh that's just terrible I can only imagine his pain, of course he was vulnerable, and she would have seen him as easy pickings".

"Yeah well that's what she did ad she kept him for a while until she realised that he was still in love with his wife and that he never really cared about her like that" he sighed "Now she's trying anything to get him back it seems, she can't seem to understand that he doesn't want her and never will".

"She did seem a little possessive" Rose nodded sadly "I'm just glad that he had someone at the time".

"Oh Rose you really do try to see the good in people don't you" Jack smiled at her and she shrugged.

"Maybe now but once...once that wasn't the case" she paused "I don't really like talking about it usually but I trust you".

"That's good to know" he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it "Now go on with your story and neither of us will mention that little kiss to John or he might just murder me".

Rose grinned for a moment until she thought about her story "Firstly you must understand that I've never told anyone about this...not even my own mother".

Jack swallowed hard and nodded, knowing that she was about to tell him something really important about herself.

"Well a long time ago I had this boyfriend, Jimmy his name was, anyway..." she continued with her story and told him all about what Jimmy had done to her, she even told him about THAT night and when she did his eyes went wide and he looked around to make sure no one could overhear what she was confessing to him.

When she had finished Jack was staring at her with wide eyes "You...you never even told your mum about this?" he asked quietly. Rose shook her head and he nodded slowly "Rose this is serious".

"I know" she swallowed and let out her breath she'd been holding "I just needed to tell someone ok?"

"How long have you been keeping this a secret?"

"About five years" she confessed with her head hung.

"Five years?!" he looked up at her again in more shock "You've been hiding this since you were what eighteen?"

"Jack as you said this is very serious and I was...am terrified of it all, of Jimmy, of my mother, of the police".

Jack stood up and paced up and down in front of her "So are you sure you've told absolutely no one?"

"Yeah" she almost whispered.

"Well I think I can keep this a secret for you I mean it was a long time ago so I don't think I'll ever be questioned about it particularly because I didn't know" he swallowed "her, but I really think you need to tell John about this, all of this".

Rose stood up "What if he goes to the police? You know him he has a great respect for the law".

"He won't if you ask him not to".

"Are you sure? This is pretty much as serious as it can get".

"Just please tell him Rose" Jack stood in front of her and gripped her shoulders "Tell him before things go too far between you two and he finds out on his own. I know you haven't told people but karma has a way of helping him find out and then he'll know you've been hiding stuff from him the whole time and it'll be just another betrayal".

Rose nodded again "Thanks Jack" she reached out and he enclosed her in a hug "I'll make sure I tell him".

"Good" Jack backed away a bit down the path and pointed back to her "You better tell him or you'll have me to deal with missy" he meant it seriously she could tell but when he turned he poked his tongue out at her to let her know that no matter what had and would happen he still counted her as a friend.

* * *

Three days after Rose had told Jack about what had happened THAT night she was washing up in the almost completely deserted kitchen at the restaurant when John came in out of nowhere completely soaked and freezing.

She walked cautiously up to him as he muttered curse words, trying to peel of his suit jacket. It appeared he hadn't noticed her yet so she just stood there watching him with her arms crossed and an eyebrow cocked.

"Oh for f..." he noticed her and stopped wrestling with the clingy material.

"You want some help?" she asked brightly.

"Uh..." he was going to try to be manly and do it himself but with one final try at freeing his arms he gave up and nodded.

Rose carefully pulled the jacket off his shoulders and placed it over an empty pan rack to dry. She turned back to find him watching her "You alright now?" she grinned at him with her tongue between her teeth.

He was speechless for a moment "Oh yeah I'm great I've just got to...Oh! that's right yes" he started to undo the buttons to his shirt and laughed when he saw her confused face "Sorry this is wet too but don't worry, Donna always keeps a shirt in here" he walked over to a chest by the other door stripping off his oxford on the way.

While he was fishing around for the spare shirt Rose got to admire just how toned he was for such a skinny person, he really was very attractive. She continued to admire him from a distance, she hadn't slept with anyone before so she knew that she would be too afraid to actually do anything but hey a look couldn't hurt right? He turned around and caught her watching him, she quickly busied herself again with the dishes to hide her blush 'Ok yep a look could definitely hurt, stupid, stupid Rose!'

He walked up right beside her still shirtless and grinned at her "Sorry Rose, am I making you uncomfortable?" he waggled his eyebrows and her so she just thumped him on the arm.

"So how was your day?" she asked trying desperately to change the subject.

"Oh please don't talk like that" he whined slipping his arms into another white oxford. Donna must have had a store of shirts in there specifically for those sorts of occasions "Makes us sound like an old married couple".

"Sorry" she turned away slightly, blushing even more.

He grinned behind her back and laughed "Nothing to be sorry for" he did up the last button on his shirt "Right so where's Donna?"  
"Oh um she left early tonight, she said she had a date so I didn't quiz her. It's just me and Matt still here and after I finish this I've got to go home and sleep before Donna's little movie day/night tomorrow".

"Uh yes" he nodded seriously.

"Hey listen I know you don't know me very well and you don't like to talk about it but can I just say how sorry I am about your wife and...and your child" tears filled her eyes and she looked down "I know I already said it but I just can't stop thinking about how painful it must be for you".

"Rose" he pulled her in close to him for a hug "You have so much heart, I find it quite unbelievably...amazing" he let her rest against his chest for a while "So I suppose someone's been talking to you about...things".

She pulled away slightly "Yeah and there was something I wanted to say to"-

"Rose!" Matt's voice rang through the room from the little locker room on the side "I've got to lock up now- oh" he caught sight of them still in each other's arms "Sorry for interrupting but I've really got to lock up or Donna will kill me".

John laughed and straightened up "Well I guess this shirt will have to get wet too then" he held out his hand to her and pulled her over to the door "Come on Rose, I think it'll be easier if we both just make for my apartment right now" he noticed the scared look on her face "Don't worry, no funny business it's just that this weather is insane and I don't want you to walk all the way home in this, especially not alone".

"Um ok" she allowed him to open the door for her, calling out a quick goodbye to Matt who grinned and rushed to turn out the lights. John had gathers up his wet things and he held his coat over Rose's head as they ran through the pouring rain. They reached his apartment in only a few minutes and Rose took a moment to glance up at how big it really was.

"Wow" she let out a whistle "You said that we BOTH lived in nice places, look at this!"

"Yeah well I do have to share with Donna ninety per cent of the time and we both like our space" he unlocked the door and gestured for her to go inside. From the outside it just looked like a nice place but on the inside it was simply amazing. The whole front entryway was split into two colours, a darkish blue and a soft lime green. There were two doorways opposite each other leading to what looked like two totally different houses. Rose could tell immediately that the blue side was John's and the green side was Donna's.

"So you guys have like two separate houses here" Rose laughed.

"Oh yeah well not the kitchen, its half and half" he grinned "Some people say it looks tacky but we don't think so, we just don't let many people in" he shrugged.

"So I should feel privileged then?" Rose nodded and smirked.

"Yep now come on in" he took her hand and led her into his side of the house. She was automatically overwhelmed with how beautiful and so like him too. The colour scheme was the same blue obviously but mixed with some white and a hint of black every here and there. He pulled her into his lab which was totally different. The table in the middle was circular and looked like it was made of some sort of round control panel; a greeny-blue light bobbed in the column in the centre of it and gave the room a mysterious glow. The walls were sort of a creamy tan colour with bronze hexagonal shapes on them with softly glowing lights on the middle of them.

The whole room just looked like it came straight out of a science fiction show. Rose had to shut her mouth so he wouldn't catch her looking like a fish. "Wow this is amazing!"

"You're the first girl who didn't think it looked too spaceman" he grinned at her "And that includes Donna. You're also the only one who hasn't said that the room looks way bigger on the inside compared to the little space it takes up in the house".

"Oh well I does look like it comes from a science fiction show" she admitted with a grin "But it's fantastic I've got to say".

"I think it's brilliant, I made it myself" he added watching her reaction carefully and smiling proudly at how impressed she was.

"Well you've certainly impressed me" she spun around slowly to take a better look around "Just fantastic" she almost whispered.

"So I'll show you to your room if you want" he walked back over to her and took her hand again.

"Oh" she was suddenly confused "You meant that I stay? Here?" her voice sounded squeaky and she cursed herself.

"Well yeah" he laughed "It's not as if I'd let you walk out in the rain and it doesn't look like it's going to let up out there for a while so stay".

"You'd trust me?" she asked incredulously "You hardly know me honestly, I could be a serial killer for all you know" she flinched at her own exaggeration.

"Well I'm pretty sure Rose Tyler could never hurt a fly and I trust her completely" he grinned again and led her by the hand to the guest bedroom "Right so there's towels and extra blankets in that cupboard and the bathroom is in there" she showed around the room "Also what size are you?"

"I'm sorry?" she asked not sure if she heard him right.

"Oh well over in the half-half section Donna and I have this sort of 'guests' wardrobe for anyone whoever stays here, I think there'll be something in your size"

"Oh well can I just check?" she asked excitedly.

"Certainly" he led her over to a room that was once again divided half in green and half in blue "So the clothes in the green section are the girls so knock yourself out" he turned to leave but she grabbed his arm.

"Thankyou" she leaned forward and placed a light kiss on his cheek "You really are the best".

"I try" he left her to find suitable clothing.

She soon found a really cute pair of pyjamas and a sundress that she could wear the following day. She walked out into the living room holding the bundle in her arms "You don't mind if I borrow a dress for tomorrow do you?"

He looked up from the kitchen bench where he was chopping up a banana to make a smoothie "Uh no, no not at all just uh put your clothes outside your door and I'll put them in the wash overnight".

"Thankyou" she padded carefully back to the guest room and almost ran to the shower in excitement. The water in the shower was amazing. She'd thought HER shower was good, but standing under that shower made her reconsider.

When she had dried herself and she was dressed in the light blue pyjama shorts and singlet, she opened the door and nearly ran straight into John "What is it with us always running into each other?" she joked slapping her hand to her chest as she recovered from the shock.

"I'm sorry I just thought you might like one of these" he held out a glass of the frothy liquid "its banana, you know if you weren't going to go to bed just yet".

"Thankyou" she carefully took one of the glasses and raised it to her lips "Mmm" she let out a satisfied noise "This is really good!"

"One of my specialties" he grinned and took a sip from his.

"Yeah well maybe you should be the one working at the restaurant" she laughed "I'd pay for this".

"Oh, well" he tilted his head to the side before nodding "I think I'll leave the cooking stuff up to Donna, science is more my thing, besides I only make these for special people" he flashed her a dazzling smile.

Rose was lost for a moment as she took in the smile, it was adorable, no question and there were little wrinkles that appeared at the sides of his eyes when he did it, but they weren't bad wrinkles, in fact she really quite liked those little wrinkles.

"Anyway" his voice brought her out of her thoughts "What'd you reckon, Lion King before bed?"

"Sure" she grinned and he led her once again to a new room which he called the media room. They sat down together and Rose soon found herself becoming sleepy. She finished her banana smoothie some time during hakuna matata but didn't actually fall asleep until the faceoff between Simba and Scar.

John looked down at the woman sleeping against his shoulder and sighed, everything was perfect. She curled closer to him in her sleep and déjà vu washed over him as he recalled his wife used to do the exact same thing. She had been a sweet tempered woman and he often felt sad when he thought of her, but not that time. No with Rose there he felt like he was at home, she wasn't replacing his wife and she was her own person of course, but she was home to him, a home that he never thought he'd know again.

* * *

When morning came Rose was startled to find herself laying on the lounge sprawled across John's side as he lay sleeping. She gingerly sat up just enough to look at the clock before she felt him pulled her back down to him, muttering in his sleep. She lay back down and placed her hand back against his chest where it had been resting earlier. She really couldn't remember how they had come on be in that position, the last thing she remembered was Simba and Scar and how comfortable John's shoulder had been to rest against.

About half an hour later Rose couldn't sit still anymore and gently shook John to wake him. He rolled over slightly and opened his eyes a crack "Good morning" he closed his eyes again, a lazy smile playing on his mouth.

"That's what I would have said about half an hour ago" she laughed "but now I'm not so sure you deserve it".

His eyes snapped open "Why not?" he asked bewildered.

"Well because earlier" she repositioned herself so that she was comfortable "when I tried to get up you wouldn't let me, so I've been stuck waiting for you to wake up".

"And your patience ran out?" he smirked.

"Yep it did" she sat up and ruffled his hair "Do you mind if I just pop home for a minute?"

"What for?" he asked sitting up and starting to undo the buttons of his shirt again.

Rose opened her mouth to talk but no words came out for a moment as he grabbed his towel from where it was hanging by the fire. "Uh..."

"You said it didn't bother you" he laughed and covered up his bare torso.

"No it doesn't" she lied but her blush (as usual) gave her away "I just have to go and get a couple of things; I'll be back in a jiffy".

"You be careful" he pointed a finger at her before retreating towards his bedroom "See you in a few then".

"Yeah see ya" she walked quickly back into the guest room and changed into the sundress.

Outside the weather was lovely after the rain the night before, the sun was out and the road was only slightly wet still. The walk to her house wasn't far but she took her time, basking in the sunlight. When she reached the house she unlocked the door and stepped inside, placing her keys on the stand near the doorway. "Who is he?" came a voice from behind her the nearly made her have a heart attack.

"Well hello to you too Jimmy" she crossed her arms across her chest and stood her ground.

"I asked you who he was" he stepped forward menacingly.

"And I told you he was a friend of mine" she didn't move.

Jimmy laughed bitterly "Don't you get it though babe? You don't have friends, not really. You've got me, the halfwit Mickey and your good-for-nothing mother".

Rose raised her eyebrows at him "I think you'll find that my friends would disagree".

He reached out and grabbed her face pulling him to her like he'd done previously "I don't think so babe, you belong to me, for as long you live".

"Haven't you moved on yet Jimmy? Seriously?" she was still trying to remain calm though she had to admit his closeness was making it increasingly difficult.

His other hand connected with her face and she let out a yelp of pain making him snigger "Been a while since I've done that" he looked down at his hand "feels good to know I'm disciplining you right".

"How did you get like this?" she frowned at him "You were so...decent before, but then..." she trailed off just as his hand made contact with her face again even harder than the first time.

"You know what I could do to you" he growled "You know I could injure you and not just physically".

"That's a big word" she smirked at him before pulling his hand from her chin "But I'm afraid you're the one who needs discipline. You know what? I think I will call the cops and tell them about you violating the restraining order".

"Not if I call em first" he turned to leave but as he did he whipped around punching her hard in the stomach, making her fall down, leaning against the lounge "See you around babe" he kissed his hand and touched it roughly to her lips before strutting out of her front door like he owned the place.

* * *

**Ok so theories on what happened THAT night? Obviously it involves Shareen's death so tell me what you reckon. Person who gets it right gets...I dunno really...something :P Haha anyway as usual I hope you liked it and look forward to hearing from you ;)**


	6. That night

**Alright so a lot is explained in this chapter. I know this whole thing is moving really fast but I don't want it to be too slow and i'm just writing this as I go so...yeah it's gonna be a bit random. Anyway I hope you like it :D I don't think there's any swearing but you'll live.**

* * *

Rose made her way slowly back to John and Donna's apartment, she had picked up what she needed and used makeup to cover up the red marks on her face. She was still in shock about what had happened and took deep breaths. "It's alright, you'll be alright" she said to herself, gently touching the place where he'd punched her in the stomach. She didn't think any ribs were broken this time but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

When she reached the door to the house she knocked and stepped back to wait for an answer. John appeared seconds later with a big grin on his face, "What are you knocking for?" he grabbed her hand and pulled her inside and into a bone crushing hug, making her wince in pain.

Her pain didn't go unnoticed by him and he quickly released her "Rose what happened to you? Are you in pain?"

She took a deep breath "Oh yeah don't worry about it, I fell over when I was walking back home, think I might have left a dint in the road" she laughed but her laugh held no humour.

"Rose!" Donna greeted her and went to hug her but John stopped her.

"Uh Donna do you think we can talk for just a minute?" Rose asked sheepishly.

"Sure" Donna smiled at her and led her into her half of the house. Rose barely had time to admire to room when Donna practically pounced on her with questions "Alright what happened to you? I know you're not ok just by looking at you so spill now!"

Rose flinched for a moment "Um well..." she took a deep breath "Jimmy came to visit me and...he wasn't...friendly" she finished weakly.

"What did he do to you?" Donna's eyes were wide and her face a mask of fury "John get in here!"

"What's wrong?" John came rushing into the room and they both looked to Rose.

"Rose's ex paid her a little visit" said Donna with venom in her voice.

John stepped forward and touched Rose's face, making her wince again "What did he do to you?"

Rose removed his hand shakily and walked over to the sink to wash the makeup off her face. When she was done the purple marks were very visible and John let out an audible gasp "Why?"

Rose sighed "Because he saw you kiss me at my house and we had a chat. He must have seen us walking together last night and he was waiting inside my house when I went there just now".

"I'll kill him" John hissed.

"Don't do anything to him please" Rose swallowed "he has leverage against me".

"What could he possibly have against you?" Donna asked with a frown "From what you've told me he was always abusive but what could you have done that he could use against you".

"It's not what I did, it's what he did".

"What did he do?" John returned from the freezer with some ice cubes in a cloth. He pressed it gently to her face and she found herself temporarily distracted by how good the ice felt on her sore flesh.

"I told you about that night all those years ago when my best friend Shareen was murdered, but I didn't tell you that I knew exactly how it happened" she paused and glanced up at his eyes which were staring intently at her "He did it".

"What?!" John stepped back and Donna gasped.

"He did it" Rose repeated "He got angry at her and he did it".

"How do you know for certain that it was him?" John returned to her side.

"Because..." she swallowed and tried to talk through her sobs, but this really needed to be said "He tried to..."

"Oh Rose" Donna sat down beside her pulled her into a hug "He tried to kill you too".

John's head snapped up and the look on his face was one of complete and utter fury. His eyes were nearly black and he looked almost frightening.

"Tell me what else happened" John said in a soft voice, but under the softness she could hear the rage.

"Well he stabbed Shareen but he put her through a...they couldn't tell if she'd fallen or not from...from what was left of her" she took another deep breath "I barely escaped with my life but I lived. He warned me if I ever told anyone that he would go to the police and tell them I did it, he could easily create a case and have me locked up, that's why I have stayed silent".

"So you have a restraining order?" Donna asked.

"Yeah" Rose laughed darkly "But he wouldn't follow any rules, he's already broken it three times".

"When you stay you got away with your life..." John trailed off.

"I was injured yes" she pulled the dress to the side to reveal the large scar on her shoulder "Jimmy went to prison for beating me up but they never suspected him for Shareen because they weren't even sure if her death was a suspicious one or not".

John came closer and reached out for the scar. Rose allowed him with a nod of her head and he ran his fingers gently over the smooth pink skin. "How could he do this to you...?" John let out a shaky breath.

"Well he"- Rose went to reply but he shushed her.

"I meant how could he do this to you because you are so beautiful, why would he want to put a blemish on something so perfect" he shook his head.

Donna put a hand on Rose's and they both tried to comfort her "You can stay with us Rose; we don't want you going anywhere alone".

"No!" Rose stood up "You can't do that. If you are near me then he'll try to get you too, especially you John".

"Why me?" John asked with a frown.

"Because Jimmy is a possessive Bastard and he saw you kiss me John" Rose sighed "I think it's better if I stay away from you both" she turned to leave but John's arm shot out in front of her.

"No" he said flatly in a tone that you know not to argue with "You are not going to go anywhere alone, besides I'm not as weak as I look; I think I could take him".

"But you haven't even seen him John. He is a pretty big bloke and I don't want either of you getting hurt" she knew she sounded desperate but she really wanted them to listen to her.

"Hey come on" John took her hand and brought it up to his lips to kiss "I'll go with you to your place and we can pack up the stuff you need, alright?"

Rose knew she was defeated so she just nodded and let him lead her outside and down the street. He gripped her hand tightly as they walked past another couple headed in the opposite direction.

"You being a bit possessive?" Rose tried to muster her best cheeky grin.

John smirked down at her "Well I'm sorry for wanting to keep you safe" he stuck out his tongue at her and she laughed "I care about you too much Rose Tyler".

"Yeah?"

"Yes" he squeezed her hand reassuringly.

She let out a puff of air "So I guess you're not going to let me live in my house anymore are you?" she asked after several moments of silence.

"No" he shook his head "You can sell the place if you really want to but Donna and I will not allow you to live there by yourself".

"You know this is all kind of rushed isn't it? I mean how do you know you can trust me? You've only known me for what, two weeks? Not even that".

"Well once Donna and I have met someone we usually sit down and have a talk about them, don't worry, never anything mean. In fact we never even needed to talk about you; we could just tell you were a good person".

"But I bet you didn't think this would happen" Rose sighed "I'm just not good news; maybe it'd be best if we weren't friends".

"I think so too" he looked straight ahead as he walked. He was too nervous to actually look at her.

"You really do?" she couldn't help be better a little bit hurt, this man had just offered her his home after all.

"Yes" he picked up their linked hands and kissed the knuckles of her hand, gazing intensely into her eyes "because I don't want to just be your friend".

"Ah" Rose's mouth was wide open; she couldn't quite get the words out, she really, really wanted to say them but she couldn't bring herself to.

"You were gonna tell me about Jimmy last night at the restaurant weren't you? Before we were interrupted I mean" he asked.

"Yeah" she nodded "and I would have too".

"Oh I don't doubt it" he gave her a cheeky grin "After you'd finished checking me out".

Rose's face went right red "I was not checking you out!"

"Hey deny it all you like I was there darling" he laughed "You've been looking, you like it".

Now Rose was trying not to laugh "I was not looking" she almost growled.

"What so you don't even think I'm a little bit foxy? That would be terribly rude now that I've expressed my wish to be more than friends with you".

Rose sighed "Alright then, yes I was looking and yes you are a little bit foxy, now please, can we drop the subject?"

He burst out laughing; making her glower at him even more "I..." he continued to giggle "I can't believe I actually got you to say that" he stopped walking and turned to her, picking her up off the ground and into his arms.

"Oi what are you doing?" she frowned at him after he wouldn't let her go.

"Well I didn't think a hug was enough so I had to pick you up I guess" he shrugged.

"You're insane" she grinned at him "Is it too early to say I love you?"

He was little taken aback but smiled sweetly at her "Do you really?" he asked in disbelief "I mean I'm not...not..."

"Hey" she lifted his chin from her position in his arms "You're a little bit foxy aren't you? And you're funny and nice and sweet, so why not?"

"No woman has told me they loved me since..."

"I love you" she blurted out before she could stop herself.

A grin lit up his face "Quite right too".

"Hey!" she punched his arm and sighed "Well come on then" she wiggled "We need to get going".

He carefully put her back down and they walked up her driveway. Rose carefully unlocked the door and John looked around warily as Rose walked into the kitchen area. "Oh don't worry" she smiled when she saw his worried expression "He won't come back for a while, I'm not that important" she laughed bitterly.

"Really?" John frowned at her "Rose seriously stop putting yourself down just because some prick failed to kill you and is making your life hell. You'll be safe at our place I promise you, we've got alarms and everything".

"Yeah I know but that just makes me feel like I'm letting other people fight my battles".

"Rose" he opened up his arms "Come here. You may not have known us long but we'll take care of you ok? No one is gonna fight but we're gonna protect you, it's what decent people do for one another".

Rose walked into his arms reluctantly "But what if he goes after you? I couldn't live with myself if he went after you or Donna or Sarah-Jane".

"Oh he won't go after us, well not them anyway" he rubbed her back gently "I am prepared to defend myself if he decides he wants to attack me".

"You really shouldn't have to go through this" Rose shook her head.

"Honestly Rose" he lifted her chin "you're worth all of it".

She smiled at him. Deep down inside she felt that hope she had learned to keep buried stir slightly and she kissed his lips softly.  
He grinned again and kissed her back. Soon they both had their arms wrapped around each other as the kisses got deeper. "You know what?" he panted when they broke apart.

"What?" she laughed and kissed his chin.

"This is totally insane" he giggled "And you know what? I don't even care" he pressed his lips to hers again in another passionate kiss.

"Oi!" came a yell from behind them and they both sprang apart.

"Donna!" John exclaimed happily "What are you doing here?"

"More like what aren't you doing here?" she raised an eyebrow "I came to see what was taking you so long and I find you two snogging each other's faces off I men seriously you two, you've hardly know one another two weeks".

"Well when you get that feeling Donna"-

"I know, I know but how about for now you stop snogging so that we can get Rose to a safer and more snog-safe zone alright?"

"Right you are" John turned to Rose "So where are we gonna start?"

Rose grinned and gestured for them to follow her, they moved from room to room cleaning up the things that Rose would need and leaving anything that wasn't wanted. Of course when it came to things like her underwear she made sure that it was only her and Donna in the room as she didn't particularly want John folding them into her bag as well.

"So what's the deal with you two?" Donna asked as they raided her bathroom cupboards.

"I don't really know to be honest, I really like him though, actually I am nearly one hundred per cent sure that I love him" Rose hid her blushing face from her friend.

"Oh but that's so good!" Donna exclaimed with pride "No non-related woman has told him that since"-

"His wife, yeah so he said" Rose nodded.

"You told him?" Donna nearly dropped the bottle of body wash she'd been inspecting.

"Well yeah" Rose shrugged, putting some of her favourite hairclips in a little bag "I just kind of blurted it out while we were talking on the way here".

"Thank you". Rose looked up to see Donna beaming at her.

"No problem" she grinned.

"I'm serious Rose, thank you. You really have no idea how much that will mean to him and how much you'll be helping him just by saying that. You see he's had it a bit rough since accident, I mean sure he puts up a tough front and acts like he doesn't have a care in the world but really he's been kind of...depressed. These last couple of weeks since he met you have been better and you may think I'm exaggerating but I'm not kidding alright?"

Rose just nodded and continued to pack up her stuff. In a little under an hour they had packed up all of the things that Rose felt that she really needed with her and Donna was keen to get back and have their movie day.

Back at the apartment John offered Rose the room she had stayed in the night before. "Are you sure? I'll pay you board I promise, I just don't want to live alone".

"Rose get your butt in here!" Donna had already entered the room to sit down two of the bags. Rose obeyed and the two girls set to work in making the room look as much like a home as possible. John lingered near the door and watched them. It was difficult for him to process that just that day alone Rose had moved into their house, into his side and she had also told him she loved him as well. It was almost unbelievable yet he knew that she meant every word. She turned around and grinned at him, he grinned back but he could tell that underneath she was neither entirely comfortable nor happy just yet.

Later on Rose came out into the kitchen to find John making them lunch. He looked up and beamed at her "I was thinking that we'd have to paint your section a different colour, maybe pink or yellow?"

"Oh but I like the blue" she grinned and gave him a hug from behind.

He put down the knife he was using and reached one arm over her head to hug her back "So are we a couple now or what?" he asked cheekily.

She frowned as if she was seriously thinking about it "Weeeeellllll..."

He quickly dipped his finger into his jar of jam behind him and smeared it on her nose "Oi!"

"Well that's what you get for teasing me" he shook his head, acting totally serious.

"I wasn't teasing you though" she wiped the jam off her nose with her finger and tasted it "Strawberry" she nodded her approval.

"You were" he said with a pout "All I did was ask you a simple question".

She rolled her eyes and snaked her arms around his middle "Well what do you think the answer is?"

"Well I was hoping for a yes" he brought his hands down to rest on her hips.

"Well then, a yes you shall get" she grinned and while he was distracted she got him in the face with a huge glob of jam.

They started attacking each other with the jam and were soon both covered with the sticky substance. Neither of them cared and continued to mess up the entire kitchen. When Donna walked in a drop of jam hit her right in the forehead and she growled.

"Listen here you two!" they both stopped and look at her guiltily "Rose I really like you and I really want you to live here but one child living here is enough so please! No more jam fights!"

"Sorry Donna I started it" John confessed.

"Of course you did!" she grumbled "Who do you think I was talking about when I said child?! Now both of you go get cleaned up!" she stomped out of the room the go and wash her face.

Rose mouthed a 'sorry' to John who just grinned and shook his head. The both retreated to their separate rooms and showered off the jam. Under the hot water Rose chuckled to herself, the pain had almost completely gone from her face and she instead focused on washing the jam out of her hair. So yes it was true that they were like children but wasn't that a good thing? Surely Donna loved children and it would be like having two children except the two children might be caught snogging occasionally.

She exited the shower in good spirits and walked out into the sitting room to join Donna and John where they were sitting with the popcorn and movies ready. Carefully towelling her hair, she sat beside John and he automatically wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"So is Jack coming?" John asked Donna after a few moments of silence.

"Well I think so" Donna shrugged "I thought you would know".

"I thought he was but hey it is Jack" he smiled to himself.

At that moment there was a knock on the door and Donna leapt up to answer it "That's him I'd say". She disappeared into the entryway and Rose waited hesitantly.

"Hey Rose don't worry it's not as if the guy can walk up to the door of someone else's house and barge in, it's trespassing and we would most certainly get him in trouble for it" he placed a kiss on her forehead and she relaxed a little.

A thought suddenly struck Rose "Is Sarah-Jane coming today?"

"No sorry she was busy" he sighed "You two really got along didn't you?"

"Yeah" she smiled at him warmly and snuggled into his chest.

"Awww you guys are so sweet" Jack's voice carried across the room making Rose jump.

"Jack!" she grinned and rushed over to hug him.

"Rosie!" Jack hugged her back and whispered in her ear "Good to hear that you told them, both of them".

John rose from his position on the lounge and ambled over to them "Jack" he gave the other man a hug.

"Aye Doc I see you got yourself a girl here" he grinned at his friend "I must say you picked a good one". Both John and Rose blushed and Donna grinned.

"Anyway now you're here we can get started" Donna moved back to her seat on the other lounge.

"Oh well I'm touched that you waited specifically for me Donna" Jack smirked and sat down right beside her.

Donna rolled her eyes and beckon for the others to sit down. Rose and John quickly took their seats and Donna pressed the play button on the remote.

"So what are we watching?" Jack asked, pulling out his six pack of beer and offering I around.

Donna took one and removed the lid before answering "Well first we've got a chick movie because Rose and I know how much you guys just love them" she grinned maliciously "then we have a comedy, an action movie, sci-fi, then we'll finish up with a horror movie".  
Jack nodded "Alright then" he held up his beer "Let the party commence!"

* * *

By the end of the chick flick Donna and Jack had already had all of the beers and Donna was practically laying on him. Rose and John were completely sober and just laughed at Donna. Jack had only had two beers and Donna had four. John had warned her that she was a lightweight but she just kept going so now there she was with her head in Jack Harkness' lap.

The afternoon passed quickly and by the time they were ready for the horror movie it was dark and John and Rose had made them all spaghetti bolognaise for dinner. "Alright so what movie are we gonna watch for our horror movie?" a still tipsy Donna asked between mouthfuls of noodles.

"Well I was thinking maybe Saw II?" Jack asked excitedly "I like to laugh at movies like them, so ridiculous".

Rose had finished her meal and rinsed her plate and was just about to put her plate in the dishwasher when she heard what he said "I'm sorry did you say Saw II?" she carefully placed the plate in the holder with shaky hands.

"Uh yeah" Jack glanced at her "Why?"

Rose shook her head and smiled awkwardly "Not really my cup of tea, I think I'll go to bed" she almost ran for her room as the tears started to fall.

"Jack!" John exclaimed angrily.

"Wha- oh...John I'm sorry I didn't realise" he stammered.

"It's ok I'll go to her" John stood up and went after Rose.

"Sheesh" said Jack to Donna "I can't believe I just forgot that".

"Hey I was gonna say it would be a great idea so..." Donna shrugged "John will take care of her though, don't worry yourself Jack".

* * *

John stepped into the room and closed the door behind him "Rose? Rose are you ok?" he asked cautiously as he approached the bed.

"Yeah" she mumbled through her tears and lifted her head to look at him.

"Hey it's alright" he sat down beside her and rubbed her back "Do you want me to stay with you?"

She nodded her head and he lay down beside her. She wrapped her arms around him and whispered quietly "Thank you...for everything".

"My pleasure" he whispered back and they soon both fell asleep in each other's arms yet again.

* * *

**Ok so a little random but now you know what happened that night that is such a secret. Also in case you were confused Rose didn't want to watch Saw because she actually saw her best friend stabbed and thrown into a rotating fan...so yeah :/**

**Anyway I hope you liked it and tell me what you thought of it :)**


End file.
